


Truth or Dare?

by FangirlForever18



Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Genre: F/F, F/M, Holiday Fic Exchange, Romance, Truth or Dare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:33:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27831568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FangirlForever18/pseuds/FangirlForever18
Summary: While on holiday, everyone plays Truth or Dare, leading to Skulduggery having to face some difficult emotions in regards to China, but will those feelings be requited?
Relationships: Dexter Vex & Saracen Rue, Ghastly Bespoke/Tanith Low, Skulduggery Pleasant/China Sorrows, Valkyrie Cain/Militsa Gnosis
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8
Collections: Skulduggery Pleasant Fic Exchange 2020





	Truth or Dare?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SP_fan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SP_fan/gifts).



> I really hope you like this, it was surprisingly difficult to write without making everyone too out-of-character.

The gang arrived at the hotel, Skulduggery handling check-in as the rest admired the beautiful interior design. After the stress of the latest potential apocalypse, China had given permission for them all to go on holiday, even letting Skulduggery persuade her to join, leaving her Supreme Mage duties behind for the week. They’d booked four rooms, Valkyrie sharing with Militsa, Ghastly sharing with Tanith, Dexter sharing with Saracen and China sharing with Skulduggery.

Everyone was locked in conversation, enthusing about the beaches, the city, everyone except China. She was watching Skulduggery’s growing frustration with the receptionist who was repeatedly shaking his head. Sighing, she headed over to the desk, tucking her sunglasses on top of her head as she approached, fixing a beautiful smile on her face.

“Is everything alright?” she asked gently, laying a hand on Skulduggery’s arm.

As expected, the receptionist went slack-jawed, his eyes widening as he let out a small whimper, unable to look away from the raven-haired beauty. China raised an elegant eyebrow, as Skulduggery turned to her.

“This man can’t find our booking,” he explained, his false face glaring at the man behind the desk.

“I-I mean, I think I can find you some rooms. I’d do anything for you, madame, you’re so beautiful, I love you,” the receptionist stuttered.

“You’re too sweet,” she cooed, smiling as the man rushed to get them room keys.

“You see how easy that was?” she murmured to Skulduggery, reaching across him to pick up the key cards, before heading back to the group.

Everyone headed upstairs to their rooms, agreeing to meet for dinner that evening. China and Skulduggery unpacked in weighted silence, both waiting for the other to speak. She could feel his gaze on her, but every time she turned to look at him, he would look away. Eventually, she broke the silence.

“There’s only one bed. How do you want to handle this?”

“I don’t sleep, the bed is yours. I can just meditate in the armchair.”

“We’re both adults. We could just share the bed?”

He hesitated. “Very well… Are you sure that’s alright with you?”

She smirked. “I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t. Nervous, Skulduggery?”

“Of course not. I was just being a gentleman.”

She let out a small delicate laugh, before resuming unpacking. Skulduggery had straightened up, walking with more bravado, glad she couldn’t see the smile that he had after making her laugh. For decades, he’d tried to suppress that reaction, eventually giving up. He handled himself around her better than most, he supposed.

That night, after dinner, the group were sat in Valkyrie’s room, having a few drinks, Skulduggery being the natural exception. Tanith, Valkyrie and Militsa had already had a few too many drinks, their faces flushed as they giggled at the tiniest things.

“We should play a game,” Tanith suggested, resting against Ghastly’s legs.

“Truth or dare!” Valkyrie yelled, pulling Militsa closer with her enthusiasm. Dexter and Saracen nodded, smirking, as Skulduggery shrugged, China rolling her eyes.

“Let’s do teams, otherwise it will go on forever,” Tanith said. “We can do it by rooms.”

Once the teams were sat together in a circle, an empty vodka bottle was spun to choose who would do the questioning and who would be the target. Valkyrie was the first to spin, the bottle landing on Saracen and Dexter. They spun the bottle, this time landing on Ghastly and Tanith.

The men whispered, before grinning. “Truth or Dare?”

“Truth,” Ghastly responded, glaring in anticipation.

“When did you realise you liked the other?”

“When she helped get Skulduggery back from the Faceless Ones,” Ghastly responded, smiling lovingly at the blonde.

“When he gave me the new boots,” Tanith said, kissing the scarred man sweetly. China rolled her eyes, nauseated at the two sorcerers. Skulduggery tried not to laugh at her reaction.

_She never was one to enjoy sentimental declarations_ , he thought. He shook himself out of his thoughts as Tanith spun the bottle. It pointed at him.

“Truth or Dare?” the blonde asked, smirking.

“Dare,” China replied, sighing.

Tanith’s smirk grew. “We dare you to sit on Skulduggery’s lap until your next turn.”

The older woman stood, moving to Skulduggery who was sat on the armchair. She sat on his lap, as the others whooped and laughed. Skulduggery tensed, unused to being this close to her. He could smell her perfume. She shifted on his lap, resting against his torso as she tried to get more comfortable.

“I can activate my façade if it would make you more comfortable?” He whispered in her ear, aware that his ribs were probably digging into her back.

She shook her head slightly, shooting him a quick reassuring smile, before gesturing at someone to spin the bottle. This time, it landed on Dexter and Saracen.

“Dare,” they said.

China thought about it. “We dare you to stage a breakup in the reception, as dramatic as possible.”

The group gathered on the balcony over the reception, eyes fixed on the two men. Saracen was storming after Dexter.

“Forget it? Forget it?! You cheated on me! How could you?!” Saracen yelled.

“Look, it’s really not that big a deal. You couldn’t fulfil my needs, she could. I was just using her.”

“So what? Are you just using me too?!”

“No, I did it so we could have a stronger relationship.”

Saracen stood with his hands on his hips, eyebrows raised. “You’re an asshole, Dexter! You just go around, using people! How do you think that makes me feel, huh? I love you!”

A single tear rolled down his cheek, hastily wiped away. Several of the people in reception were watching, eyes wide.

“I can’t talk to you when you’re emotional, Saracen,” Dexter replied, rolling his eyes.

“You know what, Dex? We’re finished, done, over. I never want to speak to you again! You can have your ring back and everything!”

Saracen threw a silver band at the other man who was biting his lip to stop from laughing.

Valkyrie and Tanith were crying with laughter, Ghastly smirking as he watched. Militsa was enchanted by the scene. Skulduggery nodded at China in approval. She smiled, giving a mock curtsey.

Saracen stormed up the steps to them, met by their applause as Dexter stood in the reception, looking at the ring with a look of loss. He too joined them on the balcony after a few moments. He was grinning, bowing at the applause.

Once more they sat in the circle, Saracen spinning the bottle as it landed on Valkyrie and Militsa.

“Truth or Dare?”

“Um, dare?” Militsa replied, looking around at the group nervously.

“We dare you to kiss Valkyrie in front of the old lady in the lobby who glared at our scene.”

Militsa blushed, but did as she was dared, giving Valkyrie a deep passionate kiss as the old lady watched in disgust. Both their cheeks were flushed when the broke apart, big grins on their faces as they walked back to the others.

*

Many more rounds passed, the dares getting progressively bolder. They finally decided on one more spin. The bottle was spun once more, again pointing at Skulduggery and China. Tanith was asking this time.

“Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” China sighed, stretching out against Skulduggery’s legs.

Tanith had a massive smirk on her face, expecting that. She’d already decided on the dare. “I dare you to make out!”

Both of them tensed, China relaxing first. “How would that even work?”

“Skulduggery activates his façade; you kiss for three minutes. Easy.”

The older woman stood up, turning to face Skulduggery, straddling him.

“Are you alright with this?” she murmured, resting her arms on his shoulders.

He straightened up. “Of course.”

China pressed the tattoos she’d painstakingly carved, watching the face flow over bone. She stiffened a bit at the sight of ginger hair and emerald green eyes, forcing herself to relax as she slowly leaned forward.

Skulduggery met her halfway, placing his hands on her waist as their lips touched. He tightened his hold on her as she deepened the kiss, pulling her closer. China arched her back, putting a hand in his hair. She felt his teeth pull her lip, making her gasp into his mouth, which he took full advantage of, deepening the kiss further. He tilted her head back, getting more dominant with the kiss.

The kiss continued until Tanith’s timer beeped. They both pulled back, China slightly out of breath, lips red. She moved off his lap, sitting where she was before, raising an eyebrow at everyone who was still staring.

After a couple of moments, they burst out with applause, Dexter and Saracen wolf-whistling.

Skulduggery was glad he’d deactivated his façade, he was sure he’d be blushing otherwise. He cleared his throat.

“Shouldn’t you all be going to bed or something?” he asked, tilting his head in a not-so-subtle threat.

“You’re in our room,” Valkyrie smirked, but stood up, leading the others out.

Skulduggery walked quickly to his room, lost in his thoughts. That kiss had definitely been a mistake. He’d let himself believe it was real, not just some stupid dare. He tried to slam the door behind him, but China caught it just as it was about to smack into her.

She raised an eyebrow, watching as he slumped in the chair in their room. The woman crossed warily in front of him, sitting on the edge of the bed. The silence was so thick it was suffocating.

“It was a good night,” China said, her voice gentle as it cut through the quietness.

Skulduggery grunted in acknowledgement, not looking at her.

“We should probably head to the beach early tomorrow if we want to get the sun beds.”

Again, the skeleton grunted. China sighed, standing up to walk towards him, hands on her hips.

“Ok, I don’t know why you’re in a strop, but if it has anything to do with that game- “

Skulduggery stood, towering over her. “That game was humiliating.”

“Well, you certainly seemed to enjoy it at the time. As I recall, you were quite handsy.”

His hands gripped her upper arms, and China could feel the anger radiating off of him.

“That was hardly me, that was that little charm of yours. After all this time, I’d have thought you’d have stopped manipulating me, but you’re still the same spoilt little fanatic I met all those centuries ago,” his voice was low, almost dangerous.

She raised an elegant eyebrow, looking pointedly at his grip on her arms. Slowly, he released her arms, keeping his wary eyes on her.

“First of all,” she started, “I can’t control the effect of my ‘charm’, as you called it. Secondly, I didn’t manipulate you, I just followed through with a dare that Tanith provided. And, finally, you know that I was never _ever_ spoilt!”

China’s eyes were narrowed, her expression cold. Skulduggery felt his anger drain away. He looked away, ashamed. China’s arms were crossed as she waited for him to meet her eyes again. By the time he did, he felt… embarrassed, an emotion that was way too familiar whenever China was concerned.

He remembered every late-night discussion at Bliss’s summer home. He remembered her lying next to him, talking about her family while her brother was fast asleep in the room opposite. About how her mother would starve her to make her more beautiful, how her father would use her to convince business partners to see his way, how her grandmother favoured her brother just because he was male. In return, he’d told her about his mother’s death, his father’s drinking, the exorcism because of his stutter. She understood, of course she did. He remembered how she hid her pain with her wit and sarcasm and vowed never to let himself forget again.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. The woman smirked as she looked up at him, softening her gaze.

“Still,” he continued. “It was a good kiss.”

China laughed. “Indeed, my dear man. For someone who hasn’t done much kissing for a couple of centuries, that was… exceptional, I dare say.”

Skulduggery puffed out his chest with pride, making the beautiful woman laugh more.

“Though, really, we can’t say that after only one kiss,” China smirked, walking towards him as she swayed her hips. He could smell her perfume the closer she got, resisting the urge to place his hands on her hips. He knew she was teasing, after all.

Her body was pressed against him, her hands resting against his ribcage as she looked up at him with her pale blue eyes. She adjusted his tie, smirking.

Something snapped inside him as he quickly activated his façade, pressing newly formed lips against her own, wiping the smirk away. She let out a surprised noise, stiffening as he held her against him. Eventually, after what felt like a lifetime for him, she kissed him back. He deepened the kiss, warmth filling him at the realisation that this was real. China Sorrows was really kissing him back, and not just for some stupid dare.

He picked her up, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist to stop from falling as he walked her towards the bed. Skulduggery placed her on the bed gently as he leaned over her, not breaking the kiss yet. He could feel her smile against his lips, so he bit one gently, making her gasp.

Eventually, she pulled away, slightly out of breath. China grinned up at him as he balanced himself above her.

“Definitely exceptional,” she whispered, her blue eyes shining brighter.

Skulduggery smiled, before deactivating the façade and lying down beside her. China rested her head on his ribcage as he placed an arm around her back. They lay there in silence together for a while, at peace.

“What happens now?” Skulduggery asked, meeting her eyes.

She looked away, biting her lip, thinking.

“What do you want to happen?” she finally replied, looking back at him.

“I suppose… I don’t want this to be a one-off occurrence yet…”

“Yet?” she prompted.

Skulduggery hesitated. “Do we have an expiration date? Is our history going to interfere from the beginning?”

China sighed. “I don’t know but,” she murmured. “We won’t know unless we try.”

He placed his head on top of hers gently, kissing her forehead, before they drifted once more into tranquil silence.


End file.
